About

Mystical Dance-Punk, Indie Rock

"Dancey love songs and sometimes some opinions on stuff..."

Sarmust, a Washington DC based Indie rock band is the brainchild of songwriter Omar Pitras Waqar, it explores a mixture between Dancey Proto-punk, and traditional music and poetry from different parts of the world (Caribbean, Middle-Eastern, South-Asian, African) borrowing from the mystically inspired yet secular Bollywood musical style of Filmi Qawwali. It attempts to create a new sound that is rooted in separation but ultimately about activism. The lyrics of the songs toy with Sufi notions of love, while still pounding the rebellious beat of dissent.

The guitars use ambient sounds like reverb and delay, and some times overdrive and octafuzz, the low end is filled up by keys with a rhodes bass sound, the top end of the keys tends to drone and sound like the vibraphone on an old Mehdi Hassan record. The drum beats come from every corner of the earth and lay the foundation for groove explorations.

The word Sarmust ( سرمست ) comes from the Urdu language and can be loosely translated as “mystic” or "one whose head is full of ecstasy "

Guitar / Vox - Omar Pitras Waqar

Keys - Nicholas Michalopoulos

Drums - Austin Gaske